Sutton, Vermont History

The Town of Sutton, by act of the Vermont Charter dated
February 26, 1782, was chartered as Billymead to Dr. Jonathan Arnold of Rhode Island
and his associates, as were the towns of Lyndon and St. Johnsbury. Billymead was
named for Arnold's younger son, William. The Oxford English Dictionary says mead
is either a beverage made of fermented honey or a meadow. It is more likely the
second definition Arnold had in mind when constructing the name (as in
"Billy's Meadow"), but the records show that William leaned toward the
first. He became such a drunkard and bully that in later years he completely
disrupted town affairs.

By 1810, townsfolk had had enough of Billy and his name, and
at town meeting that year they voted overwhelmingly to change the name to Sutton. They
began to use the name right away, not waiting for recognition by the Vermont
Legislature, which did not officially recognize the name until October 1812. To add to the confusion,
just as the Legislature was taking action to recognize the change, postal
authorities opened the Billymead post office, and did not change its name to
match that of the town until sometime in 1817.

After all that, perhaps it should be noted that one Jocktan
Putnam, originally from Burrilville, Rhode Island, proposed the
town's new name. Fortunately for researchers, his own unique name made it
possible to trace him to his birthplace: Sutton, Massachusetts.

Today the town has only the one village named Sutton, where
the first post office opened in 1812. The office is still open under the name
Sutton. Maps dated in the late 1800s show two other place-names, Summit and
Sutton Depot. Summit was also known as Summit Siding as there was a railroad
siding located there. Today this area is known as Summit Station and the pumping
station for the Portland Pipe Line is situated here.

Geologically, Sutton is divided by four heights of land; West
Ridge, North Ridge, East Ridge, and South Ridge.